Go Back  FlyerTalk Forums > Miles&Points > Airlines and Mileage Programs > Avianca | LifeMiles and Amigo
Reload this Page >

LM F and J routes (and the occasional trick-it) Rebooted v2.0

Old May 26, 2014, 8:47 am
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: SingaporeDon
Originally Posted by Moderator2
Every forum on Flyertalk has a personality. A forum gains a personality through user input over time, and Lifemiles is a very definitive example of how users have developed a unique community.

While Flyertalk boards actively encourage sharing of info, the Lifemiles community has developed and thrived via obscuring of certain data elements. It may not be easy for new participants to break through the codes and gain knowledge of the program's quirks, but the overall board community has adopted this unique approach. And frankly, that is not going to change overnight.

If a FT member wants to participate on this board, then they will need to respect other users. Hence, posts that run counter to this community's standards, will be removed.
Region definitions
C1 North America
C1.5 Caribbean, Bermuda
C2 Europe
C2.5 Middle East
C3 Asia
C4 South America
C5 Africa
C6 Oceania

2X, 3X: in the context of this LifeMiles thread, 2X and 3X refer to any 2nd and 3rd legs of a one-way award ticket.

LifeMiles' Star Alliance Award Chart

LifeMiles' old Star Alliance Award Chart (before Oct 15 2014) // Table of changes

Cash & Miles redemptions: the price per mile purchased during award booking varies significantly depending on how many miles are purchased. The "sweet spots" are between 38% and 58% of the total mileage required, where miles are purchased for 1.5 cents. See here for some examples.

Beware of Cabotage: LifeMiles has been known to issue tickets that constitute Cabotage, and at least one instance of denied boarding has been reported, stranding the passenger. An easily-seen example is travel on Copa from LAX to SJU (via PTY).

Understand Cabotage: Departing country 1, transiting country 2, returning to country 1 (no stopping) *is* cabotage (example: depart JFK, connect in YYZ to return to ORD, or depart Miami, connect in Bogota, return to San Francisco). On the other hand, departing country 1, going to completely unrelated country 2, and ending up in country 3, is not cabotage. So if you fly JFK-JNB-ZRH, for instance, this is completely not cabotage.

Availability: Seeing availability for *A award seats elsewhere is no guarantee they are accessible on Lifemiles. For instance award space shown on ANA often is not accessible on Lifemiles. Similarly, finding award space on single legs doesn't mean you'll get award space on the combined itinerary. And no, there is no way to overcome that.

Screenshot Method
Send email to [email protected] with attached screenshots on Lifemiles website of each individual leg showing availability. Also, screenshot showing no availability as one booking. Include passenger names, gender and DOB and copy of passenger passport. They will either call you for payment or email the itinerary and give you 3 days to call up and make payment by CC.

NOTE: This previous thread has been closed; it can be read here LM F and J routes (and the occasional trick-it)
Print Wikipost

LM F and J routes (and the occasional trick-it) Rebooted v2.0

Old Feb 3, 2018, 2:07 am
  #2821  
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Tokyo
Programs: Marriott Plat, HH G,Hyatt E,*A Gold, OW Emerald.
Posts: 3,023
Originally Posted by merridius
IMO if you don't do call in it won't get ticketed anyway so you have nothing to lose? it might die on the old engine but i would guess that engine will be permanently gone eventually.
I’m concerned that calling will not only flag this reservation for inspection of the “mileage discount”, but they might inspect a couple of other ticketed reservations I have with similar discounts. I would suffer some damage/ they might patch the loophole.

i decided to let it go and not risk shedding light on my other reservations.

I won’t discuss what these tickets are!
Tokyoite is offline  
Old Feb 4, 2018, 4:54 pm
  #2822  
 
Join Date: Apr 2016
Programs: NH, JL, SQ
Posts: 164
Originally Posted by Tokyoite

I’m concerned that calling will not only flag this reservation for inspection of the “mileage discount”, but they might inspect a couple of other ticketed reservations I have with similar discounts. I would suffer some damage/ they might patch the loophole.

i decided to let it go and not risk shedding light on my other reservations.

I won’t discuss what these tickets are!
ahh right in that case i wouldn't risk my other reservations either.

slightly tangential, but would flying these sort of "discounted" routes piss off the operating carrier(s) i wonder?
merridius is offline  
Old Feb 5, 2018, 2:03 am
  #2823  
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Programs: Hyatt Lifetime Globalist, SQ PPS Solitaire
Posts: 3,574
Originally Posted by merridius
would flying these sort of "discounted" routes piss off the operating carrier(s) i wonder?
No. The operating carrier gets paid a fixed amount from Avianca. How much Aviance is getting from Lifemiles members is a different story. As long as overall Lifemiles is making more cash from selling miles than Aviance has to settle flights for, your "discounted" routes don't bring down the whole program.
SMK77 is offline  
Old Feb 5, 2018, 2:28 am
  #2824  
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Tokyo
Programs: Marriott Plat, HH G,Hyatt E,*A Gold, OW Emerald.
Posts: 3,023
On the off case that there is an "unusually high volume of tickets" for a specific route where LM seems to be bleeidng cash (paying more than they expected), then LM might be inclined to inspect the problem and resolve it. I speculate that this is what happened to the ex. Australia pricing being higher.
But generally, as @SMK77 said, LM seems to be making more money ouf of the program, and isn't driven to devalue/close the loopholes.
An operating carriers might flag Avianca tickets (202-) in the rare cases that there is an "unusually high volume of strange routing tickets" for a specific route.
The GUM route on UA is a little differently (long story not remembered fondly by many on this forum), but I speculate the KHV route on OZ died this way.

So, operating carriers generally dont care as long as it is ticketed and "OK to fly" status.
Tokyoite is offline  
Old Feb 19, 2018, 1:51 pm
  #2825  
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Sydney, Australia
Programs: UA, QF, VS, AA, US, HH, SPG
Posts: 974
A question for the experts - LM does not show any availability for AI (SYD-DEL) even when other airlines show award availability. LM does show AI awards on other routes so it's not just an AI technical issue. I've tried the "usual" workarounds - like setting the airline from 'smart search' to AI - fiddling with the departure time, but cannot think of any other tricks. I have not tried calling as I understand that this would not help (it's not that urgent as I have an alternate routing on SQ which requires an overnight flight from SIN to DEL - this was booked with SQ points not LM).
pschafer is offline  
Old Feb 21, 2018, 3:36 pm
  #2826  
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Tokyo
Programs: Marriott Plat, HH G,Hyatt E,*A Gold, OW Emerald.
Posts: 3,023
Dates?
Tokyoite is offline  
Old Feb 21, 2018, 5:07 pm
  #2827  
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Sydney, Australia
Programs: UA, QF, VS, AA, US, HH, SPG
Posts: 974
Originally Posted by Tokyoite
Dates?
I was checking March 6 - but other dates also don't show any AI seats on SYD-DEL.
pschafer is offline  
Old Feb 22, 2018, 3:27 am
  #2828  
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Tokyo
Programs: Marriott Plat, HH G,Hyatt E,*A Gold, OW Emerald.
Posts: 3,023
Well, AI out of SYD is non-existent. No tricks I tried would work ( including married segments etc.).
You could chose TG, since F class is available out of SYD on March 6th, or try calling in to explain your situation (um, why you must fly Air India !).
Availability for 1 person is as follows:
[KVS Tool 8.7.7/Diamond - Awards/AC-StarAlliance/CA-Auto]
Code:
SYD  Sydney Kingsford Smith NS AU [YSSY]
DEL  Delhi Indira Gandhi Intl IN [VIDP]
TUE  06 Mar 2018   1 Seat

Carrier    Flight  From  Depart    To    Arrive    A/C  St  Award Availability
---------  ------  ----  --------  ----  --------  ---  --  ------------------
AI         301     SYD   10:45     DEL   17:50     788  0   CS+  YS+
TG         476     SYD   10:00     BKK   15:25     747  0   FS+  YS+
 -> TG     315     BKK   20:00     DEL   23:00     773  0   CS+  YS+
TG         476     SYD   10:00     BKK   15:25     747  0   FS+  YS+
 -> AI     333     BKK   08:50 +1  DEL   12:05 +1  788  0   CS+  YS+
TG         476     SYD   10:00     BKK   15:25     747  0   FS+  YS+
 -> TG     331     BKK   23:25     DEL   02:20 +1  787  0   YS+
TG         476     SYD   10:00     BKK   15:25     747  0   YS+
 -> AI     335     BKK   21:05     DEL   00:25 +1  32B  0   YS+
TG         476     SYD   10:00     BKK   15:25     747  0   YS+
 -> AI     331     BKK   20:30     BOM   23:15     788  0   YS+
 -> AI     864     BOM   07:00 +1  DEL   09:05 +1  32B  0   YS+
TG         476     SYD   10:00     BKK   15:25     747  0   YS+
 -> TG     329     BKK   22:10     HYD   00:25 +1  777  0   YS+
 -> AI     559     HYD   06:40 +1  DEL   08:50 +1  321  0   YS+
TG         476     SYD   10:00     BKK   15:25     747  0   YS+
 -> TG     337     BKK   22:25     MAA   00:30 +1  777  0   YS+
 -> AI     440     MAA   06:10 +1  DEL   08:55 +1  321  0   YS+
TG         476     SYD   10:00     BKK   15:25     747  0   YS+
 -> SQ     983     BKK   20:00     SIN   23:30     333  0   CS+
 -> SQ     402     SIN   02:35 +1  DEL   05:55 +1  772  0   CS+
Tokyoite is offline  
Old Feb 22, 2018, 3:36 am
  #2829  
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Sydney, Australia
Programs: UA, QF, VS, AA, US, HH, SPG
Posts: 974
Originally Posted by Tokyoite
Well, AI out of SYD is non-existent. No tricks I tried would work ( including married segments etc.).
You could chose TG, since F class is available out of SYD on March 6th, or try calling in to explain your situation (um, why you must fly Air India !).
Availability for 1 person is as follows:
Thanks for trying / taking a look - I've booked this trip (SYD-DEL) on SQ via SIN using Krisflyer points - but would like to use my LMs - most routes just don't show availability and/or fail with system error when selecting routing. I'm not going for anything too exotic - mainly SYD-YVR on AC or SYD-xxx-FRA (or ZRH) on NH, OZ or TG (when and if F is available).

A tip for ex-SYD flyers - SQ has new routing SYD-CBR-SIN - it's available in J on LM - times not ideal.
Tokyoite likes this.
pschafer is offline  
Old Mar 7, 2018, 7:35 pm
  #2830  
 
Join Date: Apr 2016
Programs: NH, JL, SQ
Posts: 164
i had 2 'discounted' flights i was planning to book soon and it seems like LM shut them down
merridius is offline  
Old Mar 8, 2018, 12:10 am
  #2831  
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Germany
Programs: Hyatt Dia, MM, DGAEZ
Posts: 607
Originally Posted by merridius
i had 2 'discounted' flights i was planning to book soon and it seems like LM shut them down
Oh man...thats too much info...
Onewhoknows is offline  
Old Mar 8, 2018, 3:04 am
  #2832  
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Tokyo
Programs: Marriott Plat, HH G,Hyatt E,*A Gold, OW Emerald.
Posts: 3,023
Originally Posted by merridius
i had 2 'discounted' flights i was planning to book soon and it seems like LM shut them down
when was the last time you saw these discounts?
the new interface locked down most old discounts, so it really depends on when you found the discounts.

some discounts still exist in the new interface.
jumbooze likes this.
Tokyoite is offline  
Old Mar 8, 2018, 11:04 pm
  #2833  
 
Join Date: Apr 2016
Programs: NH, JL, SQ
Posts: 164
Originally Posted by Tokyoite
when was the last time you saw these discounts?
the new interface locked down most old discounts, so it really depends on when you found the discounts.

some discounts still exist in the new interface.
a couple of weeks ago on the new interface, oh well its gone i can't do anything about it. but it kinda feels to me like they are actively monitoring searches and shutting them down
merridius is offline  
Old Mar 12, 2018, 7:38 pm
  #2834  
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 1,319
Ok, so not quite on topic - but:
1. how do you know which interface is old and which is new?
2. is multi-city booking working in any of these? For me the interface will only let one airport code to be entered in multi-city mode, and then the rest are ignored.
br2k is offline  
Old Mar 13, 2018, 3:21 am
  #2835  
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Tokyo
Programs: Marriott Plat, HH G,Hyatt E,*A Gold, OW Emerald.
Posts: 3,023
Originally Posted by br2k
Ok, so not quite on topic - but:
1. how do you know which interface is old and which is new?
2. is multi-city booking working in any of these? For me the interface will only let one airport code to be entered in multi-city mode, and then the rest are ignored.
welcome to the thread. You need to read up at least the last 10-15 pages of this thread.
currently there is only one interface; the new one.

multicity booking works, but only as a sum of individual segments. You have to end up at your origin airport.poor use of miles.

E.g. JFK-FRA-FCO-MUC-JFK,
all four flights will be charged separately,
(it is not priced as a return JFK-FCO via FRA and MUC).
Tokyoite is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.